Over the past two years, NBT has seen increased longevity in sponsorships and ticket sales, hitting a record performance high of 12,000 attendees for last year’s “Nutcracker” — a figure as crucial as it is laudable, as the production cost NBT two-thirds of its annual budget.

“Do you build a ‘Nutcracker’ every year? No. This is something that’s an investment for 10 years,” Canfield says. “It really is a community effort, and that’s been the biggest asset. It’s allowed the production to stay local, and to take this holiday classic and reimagine it — it’s important that you can come and see it for the first time again.”

With an annual budget that fluctuated between $90,000 and $200,000, keeping a small-to-midsize company afloat was a struggle, she said. "We were doing good work and paying dancers well, sometimes at my own expense. ... You get to a certain age and think, 'I can't retire on my laurels.' "

This enchanting holiday treat takes place in New York City locales such as the Crystal Palace at the New York Botanical Gardens, the Central Park skating pond and Gracie Mansion. The December 8th final performance was both a triumphant and sad one, as Ms. Ringer, the glorious Sugar Plum Fairy of this production for 17 years, danced her final performance. Ms. Ringer is also retiring from New York City Ballet this spring.

“Each role was different and each was special,” said Engel, who a year after her Clara appearance in 1996 danced the role of the spunky, irreverent Black Sheep who refuses to listen to the Shepherd’s commands. “You gave everything you had. It was another feeling when you danced before an audience. We transmitted our passion — an indescribable feeling. I think about that today when I watch The Nutcracker.”

Just as Ms. Dvorovenko, who is retiring this year, proved that there is life after American Ballet Theater, Simone Messmer, one of that company’s most gifted members, left to forge a new beginning at San Francisco Ballet. It’s a loss. At least there’s always room for youth: Calvin Royal III, a member of Ballet Theater’s corps, asserted himself as a magnetic force in Alexei Ratmansky’s “Piano Concerto #1.”

Dmitrichenko was sentenced by the Meschansky District Court of Moscow on December 3 to 6 years in prison. The court ruled that other defendants in the trial – former convict Yuri Zarutsky, who carried out the attack, and driver Andrei Lipatov – only did the jobs that had been assigned to them by Dmitrichenko.